It has been conventional practice in small or fractional horsepower motors for the stator winding to be secured by clamping or crimping it to a lead-in conductor with a metallic element. The metal connector is usually wrapped with an insulator and buried within the end turns of the stator winding. Sometimes such connectors become loose with resulting lack of good appearance and increased potential for damage. Such an assembly also requires labor and material costs that would be desirable to avoid. Reference is made to Charlton et al U.S. Pat. No. 3,457,442, July 22, 1969, for a further discussion of the problems relating to such connections and prior solutions.
In the Charlton et al patent there is disclosed an insulating holder or connecting block for securing the lead connection proximate to the stator core but without embedding the lead connection in the end turns. As is there shown the insulating holder, preferably molded as a unitary element of insulating material, has channels for receiving a metallic connector element and has legs straddling end turns to secure the holder thereto. Such a connector block has been successfully used but is susceptible of certain disadvantages.
One of the disadvantages of the connector block described in the Charlton et al patent is that the channels for receiving the wire connector are slotted at their opening for permitting flexure and facilitating the reception of the connector. However it is possible for an insulated conductor joined by the connector to be forced within the slot resulting in opening of the channel and the possibility that the connector itself will fall or be removed therefrom. Additionally, the tubular channels of the Charlton et al device included a retaining shoulder or ring extending within the channel from a surface thereof, referring to element 28 of the drawing of the aforementioned patent, with the result that in molding the unit this element was sometimes sheared from the molded part or was made too small to perform its intended function. Further difficulty was sometimes found in positioning the holder onto the end turns or in getting a secure fit thereon. For the foregoing reasons it was deemed desirable to improve generally the design and characteristics of the insulating holder.